Jangwani 2 excavations, Lake Eyasi basin, Tanzania

Summary

Jangwani is a large open-air site or series of sites near the shores of Lake Eyasi, south of Mumba Rockshelter. The area was surveyed (surface collections only) by Kohl-Larsen (1943) and one site was named Wochenend Fundstelle (Weekend Site), renamed Jangwani 1 by Mehlman (1989), who excavated it. Gifford-Gonzalez (in Mehlman 1989) analyzed the fauna from J1.

The late Charles Rubaka (2000, 2002) and his supervisor, A. Mabulla, identified further discrete find areas in Jangwani (J1-J5) and consequently tested Jangwani 1, 3, and 5. Ceramics were mainly SPN/Narosura. Fauna and lithics were never studied.

J2 was excavated by M. Prendergast and A. Mabulla in 2006 and faunal data from those excavations are presented here. Most J2 ceramics appear to be SPN (Narosura), but remain to be studied in detail. Lithics have not yet been studied. Major bioturbation by small rodents and insects throughout the site has led to problems getting an accurate date for the SPN occupation.